Each must piece together the origins of their other-worldly abilities and the location of the white manor, where they will be reunited and the questions that have plagued their existence will finally be answered. But someone else marks their every step. The sinister Mr Cradleworth has other plans for them, plans that could bring about catastrophic consequences, not just for earth, but the whole universe.

Jerrico Flynn always felt distant from the world around him, soaking up emotion like a sponge.

Martha Johnson dreams of other worlds – worlds where demons stalk the highways.

Vladimir Volanov can get inside your head by eating the one thing you can never escape from.

Josie De Morgan is blind, but she can see your death long before you can.

Heven Ramirez can break your heart if he concentrates hard enough.

Kaleb Levesque is a sculptor with a healing touch. He can give you a new lease of life.

Evelyn Alton has an Unkindness of ravens at her command.

Stuart Matheson is bound to a wheelchair, but his telekinetic power evens the odds a little.

Barnes may look like just a dog. Take your eyes off him, he may jump somewhere you can’t follow.

This epic tale covers half the globe as it follows each character into the darkest recesses of their soul. Combining eighties-style horror with science fiction, this dark fantasy will take you on a journey you will never forget.

I’m 38 years old and live in Staffordshire in the UK. I’m as much in love with the world of film as I am with literature. My tastes are varied, but the horror genre feeds my imagination the most.

I regularly attend Film 4’s Frightfest film festival in London, and have met some of my heros and heroines there. I’m hoping one day to meet my all time favourite author, Clive Barker...we’ll see.

Until then, I’m working hard on my horror/fantasy trilogy, the Fallen Gods Saga. Book 1, Sanctuary 12, is available now, with Fallen Gods: Infanticide to follow in November 2013. The final instalment, Fallen Gods: Mind over Matterless is my current project and should be ready in 2014.

I have several more projects lined up, including a possible comic book! I hope you will find something you like within my work. If you like your romance dark and bloody, why not try my novella, The Last Cut is Always the Deepest.

One of the biggest tragedies in modern fiction is the lack of strong female characters. I don’t subscribe to this idea that a strong female in fantasy has to jump around doing martial arts in a tight costume. My female characters distinguish themselves by having a strong moral core, and being able to think under pressure without giving in to fear-induced aggression. I hope my characters offer something a little different for both female and male readers.

You may find my love for monsters quite apparent in my books. That’s because I adore them. We are all monsters in the end, aren’t we? Some beautiful, some not so much.

I would be very interested to speak to you, even if it’s just to talk about horror in general. Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@TW_Malpass) or drop a comment on my website. Take care until then, fellow monsters.

Excerpt

‘There.’ Kaleb placed the
steaming mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table in front of her.

‘Thank you,’ Josie replied. Her
hair was already starting to return to its natural colour after she’d run the
towel through it.

‘I’m going to dim the lights a little.
Don’t get the wrong idea. I just don’t like artificial light.’

‘You’re not going to vamp out on
me, are you?’ Josie said.

Kaleb laughed. ‘I think it’s
because I have to work under a fluorescent lamp all the time. I get pretty sick
of it.’ He turned the dimmer switch to its medium setting.

‘What do you sculpt?’

‘I’ll show you, if you like.’

‘Yes, I’d like.’ Josie felt good
but surreal, as if on the bridge she’d fallen from one life into a new one.
Kaleb took her by the arm, over to the far end of the room by the window.

‘Here.’ He directed her hands
towards one of his sculptures.

It did not take long for her to
distinguish what she was touching. ‘It’s a hand!’ she said.

‘They all are. It’s what I
specialise in now.’ He watched how her fingertips viewed every dimension, every
texture within the clay with slow, meticulous strokes.

‘They are beautiful. How long
have you been sculpting for?’

‘Ever since I was a kid. I picked
it up from my dad. He used to have a workshop at our old house in Templeton.’

‘Templeton.’ Josie repeated the
word, trying to recall a vague memory she had.

‘It’s in Quebec, where I was born.’

‘I thought you had a slight
accent, but I was scared to say American in case I offended you.’

He laughed. Her face shone even
in the dimmed light. Kaleb realised something existed behind her eyes
infinitely more interesting and precious than sight. As their amusement
subsided, he took hold of her wrist, leading her to another sculpture. ‘This
one is very special to me.’

Josie laid her hands on it,
concentrating hard on its many curvatures. It was radically larger compared to
the other. Its palms were flatter and everything felt elongated, including the
fingers. ‘My God, is it—’

‘It belongs to an African
gorilla.’ Kaleb stood directly behind her, beaming at what he considered his
masterpiece.

‘Wow…this is amazing.’

‘I did it last year for a
project. They allowed me to sit at the observation point at the sanctuary. Her
name was Abunga – which means, of the forest. She sat there the whole time – so
peaceful and proud, even without her freedom. Actually she was the best live
model I’ve ever worked with.’ Kaleb remembered how his art would help to still
his mind; that seemed so long ago. He directed Josie to the next sculpture.
‘This one is pretty special too,’ he said.

It didn’t take Josie long to
understand why. ‘Oh my God, this person is polydactyl.’

‘Yep, an extra finger on each
hand. He was a great guy – even paid to have a copy done for himself.’

‘You seem to have an amazing
knack to get people and animals to do what you want,’ she joked.

‘Animals are easy and
uncomplicated to communicate with…humans on the other hand.’

‘I’m not sure about that – you
connected with me.’

‘I’m glad that I did, Josie, but
I’m not sure I’m totally responsible for it. I think there is perhaps another
who deserves some credit.’

‘You’re talking about her, aren’t
you?’

‘How long has she been in your
head?’ Kaleb had known since Vauxhall Bridge they shared the same secret, and
for some reason, that fact seemed to make total sense to him.

‘I hadn’t fully realised until
recently, but I think it’s been years. It’s become a lot worse over the last
few weeks, though. She won’t let me close my ears to her anymore. She insists
on being heard,’ Josie said.

‘I think she’s always been in my
life. In my childhood, I think her whisper was so low and distant that it
barely registered. As I’ve grown older, it’s become clearer and clearer. Now
it’s incessant. It won’t let me breathe.’ Kaleb ran a weary hand through his
curls, lowering his head as he did so.

Josie turned to him, brushing
against his body, her eyes filled with tears. ‘Kaleb, you don’t know how long
I’ve waited for someone to come along and provide me with evidence that I’m not
completely mad or alone.’

‘I thought I was crazy too for a
long time, but I think deep down, I’ve always known it to be real.’

The calm she felt now after so
much anguish confirmed what Kaleb was saying. ‘I get the feeling she is trying
to send us an important message – but what that message is, and from where
she’s sending it, I don’t have a clue,’ Josie said.

‘I want to show you something
else.’ Kaleb’s expression changed. He ushered her back towards the kitchen, to
a display table covered over with a brown linen sheet. ‘I want you to tell me
if this means anything to you.’ He whipped back the sheet and Josie examined
the object with her fingers.

The sculpture was almost
perfectly spherical, with several jagged prongs sprouting from its surface like
the tentacles of a giant octopus. She tried to hone in on any repressed memory
she might have, but it was no good, the object meant nothing. ‘I’m sorry,
Kaleb. It doesn’t seem familiar at all. Why is it significant?’

Kaleb slumped back, resting
against the edge of the display table before he spoke. ‘I was working late one
night a couple of weeks ago. When I’d finished, I had a shower and went
straight to bed. The next morning, I wake up, and this thing is sitting at the
bottom of my bed. I had no idea how it got there. Then I look under my sheets,
and my hands are covered with clay.’

‘You did it in your sleep?’

‘I must have,’ Kaleb replied.

‘You think she made you do it,
don’t you?’

‘I’m sure of it.’

This time it was Josie’s turn to
drop her head in exhaustion. ‘Why doesn’t she tell us what she wants?’

‘I think we are supposed to find
out for ourselves.’

‘…Kaleb?’

‘I know. I’m scared too.’ Kaleb
wrapped his arms around her in an embrace that was mutually beneficial. They
held each other, lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes.

Josie pulled back. ‘I’d better be
getting home,’ she said. ‘If my parents find out I’m not there they will have
the whole of London
out looking for me.’

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